Charlie Chan (Character) - Biography biography The content of this page was created by users. It has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Warning! This character biography may contain plot spoilers. Visit our Character Biography Help to learn more. Character Biography History Discuss The character of Charlie Chan was created by author Earl Derr Biggers, who wrote several mystery novels featuring the character. Biggers based Charlie Chan in part on a Honolulu police officer named Chang Apana. Both the character of Charlie Chan and the real-life Chang Apana worked in Honululu and were accomplished, respected police officers of Chinese descent, but the similarities seem to end there. The first screen appearances of Charlie Chan were in silent serials and the character also had a small role in the 1929 early talkie "Behind That Curtain." In 1931, Fox studios cast Warner Oland as Charlie Chan, who had previous experience playing Asian roles. For the most part, Warner Oland played Chan as a soft-spoken, polite detective, an aspect that was noticeably different from Earl Derr Biggers' original, more assertive Charlie Chan.

However, Chan's wise proverbs and powers of deduction remained much the same in the films as they were in the novels. Warner Oland had a very successful run as Charlie Chan from 1931-37, and starred in perhaps the most acclaimed Chan film, "Charlie Chan at the Opera," co-starring Boris Karloff. The character of Chan was unique; he had no trouble coming up with wise proverbs or sayings for any situation. An example of one of his sayings- "Politeness is the golden key that opens many doors." He was often underestimated, even by members of the police force, and always came out ahead, no matter what people thought of him. This was a step forward for people of Chinese descent, because there had previously never been a Chinese character in movies that was not a villain or a negative stereotype. Warner Oland visited Shanghai, and was thought by many to really be Chinese, a testament to his believability in the role of Charlie Chan. One of the elements that made the series so popular was the addition of Charlie Chan's enthusiastic Americanized sons, played mainly by Asian actors Keye Luke, Sen Yung, and Benson Fong.

Their amateur detective work and comedic chemistry with their onscreen "dad" was a key addition to the films' success. Warner Oland died suddenly of pneumonia in 1938, and there was uncertainty whether or not the role of Chan could be re-cast. The Charlie Chan film series was very popular for 20th Century Fox, so they decided to continue with the series and cast Sidney Toler as Chan. Toler played Chan more assertively than Warner Oland had and was a hit with fans of the series, continuing the Fox films successfully until 1942. 20th Century Fox dropped the film series, but Sidney Toler, who gained the screen rights to the character of Charlie Chan from Earl Derr Biggers' widow, was able to continue in the role of Charlie Chan at Monogram studios, starting with "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service" in 1944. Sidney Toler continued in the role until 1947, when he died of colon cancer (then known as intestinal cancer). Monogram studios still had a successful series on their hands, and they were eager to re-cast Chan.

Roland Winters quickly got the role (he was cast even before the studio executives saw the film of his screen test). Although a capable actor, many felt that Roland Winters was miscast as Charlie Chan. He did not really look Chinese and was nearly the same age as Keye Luke, who played his son in the last two Chan films. He played Chan until 1949's "The Sky Dragon," the last film in the series. Page last updated by dannymike , 9 years ago Charlie Chan: Five Complete Novels: The House Without a Key; The Chinese Parrot; Behind That Curtain; The Black Camel; Keeper of the Keys: Earl Derr Biggers: 9780517347072: Amazon.com: Books By Nora M Qudus on April 11, 2016 Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase I have watched Charlie Chan Movies since I was a child and loved them. Since I started a new hobby of reading the novels old movies were based on I am delighted the books are so great. Earl Derr Biggers is a detailed author. I love the descriptions of old Hawaii where my father was born in the same decade of these novels.

I can see why Charlie Chan was turned into movies. I can not second guess the outcome which is good. I am on the second novel and plan to buy all the Charlie Chan novels Biggers wrote. I love the era of the stories and can smell the flowers and feel the grace of the islands before they changed for the worse with too many people! I am pau! The Chinese Parrot a Charlie Chan Mystery: Earl Derr Biggers: 9781417901722: Amazon.com: Books The Chinese Parrot a Charlie Chan Mystery Add all three to Cart Add all three to List Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details Buy the selected items together This item:The Chinese Parrot a Charlie Chan Mystery by Earl Derr Biggers Paperback $30.95 Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items.

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"Crackles with tension, authenticity." Michael Connelly Rebekka Franck Mystery Series: Vol 1-3 Willow Rose It's the stuff of a living nightmareâ¦Get three creepy novels from Willow Rose known as The Queen of Scream. Nail-biting horror Unputdownable Ad feedback Special Offers and Product Promotions Editorial Reviews About the Author EARL DERR BIGGERS was born in Warren, Ohio in 1884. He graduated from Harvard University in 1907, and lived for many years in California. He wrote six novels featuring detective Charlie Chan, who became a staple of the movies. He died in Pasadena, CA in 1933. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . New York Times best sellers Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more.

See more Product Details Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (April 2005) Language: English Shipping Weight: 1 pounds ( View shipping rates and policies ) Average Customer Review: By Jeannie Mancini on December 9, 2008 Format: Paperback In the dry desert region of Southern California, Bob Eden, the son of a famous San Francisco Jeweler, travels to the dusty town of Eldorado accompanying Earl Derr Biggers famous Chinese sleuth, Charlie Chan. Charlie and Bob are to travel to the desert to hand deliver an expensive string of pearls to a wealthy millionaire named P.J. Madden. As the author slowly introduces a large host of interesting and shady characters, Bob and Charlie begin to suspect foul play and that something is seriously amiss on Madden's ranch. With those gut feelings they decide to hold off delivering the goods. Charlie goes undercover posing as the ranch Cook, and Bob continually invents many creative ways to stall the millionaire so he doesn't have to give over the necklace until the detective and himself try and uncover more information. This story has many levels of convoluted plots to keep the reader always guessing. The story really kept me going and wondering at every turn just who the culprit could be and why.

The very surprising ending upped my four star review to a five! The character of Charlie Chan that Biggers created is one that you just can't help fall in love with. His manner of having the patience of ten saints that most others find frustrating, and his unusual concoction of backward English grammar and Confucius like phrases, will often put a smile on the reader's face. Written in the simple and melodramatic style of the 1920's, this second Charlie Chan mystery still holds up to today's standards as a very engaging and enjoyable crime novel. With a lighthearted pen, humor, romance, action and adventure to blend with murder and mischief, The Chinese Parrot is a delightful mystery that would be enjoyed by all. This is the second Charlie Chan mystery in the series, and also the second I've read. The only thing I might warn others about if they know nothing of the character is that Charlie Chan is not the lead in these books. He plays a rather second-fiddle in solving the mystery and is a helping hand in the background to seeking out clues. There are other key players in the books that solve the crime WITH Charlie, and not a case of Charlie Chan investigating solo.

Once the reader realizes this is the case and goes with the flow, it becomes unimportant that he is not always the hero of the day. In fact, I think I like this formula a lot because it IS such a different approach for a lead character series and just adds more to the lure and charisma of the books. I am told by the publisher of these great new trade paperbacks that the next two stories will be released in the Spring of 2009 and I for one can't wait! By Patto TOP 500 REVIEWER on May 29, 2009 Format: Paperback Charlie Chan, being sensitive as a camera, can feel it. He's carrying next to his stomach a string of pearls worth $300,000, but he can't bring himself to hand them over to the buyer, the fabulously rich P.J. Madden. His partner in the delivery is a young man named Bob Eden, the inexperienced but likeable son of the jeweler who's handling the deal for an old friend. Charlie and Bob have been instructed to deliver the pearls to Madden at his ranch deep in the California desert.

Just to check things out, Charlie poses as a job seeker and gets hired by Madden to do the cooking. Meanwhile he and young Bob secretly try to make sense of the nervous secretary, the disappearing daughter, the missing gun - and a parrot that suddenly screams, "Help! Help! Murder!" And there's a love story to sweeten the mystery, as Bob pursues a young woman who's scouting locations for the movies. Published in 1926, this is the second Charlie Chan mystery and I, for one, want more. By Bobby Underwood on April 23, 2010 Format: Paperback "Trifles sometimes blossom big. Detective business consist of one unsignificant detail placed beside other of same. Then with sudden dazzle, light begins to dawn." -- Charlie Chan to Bob Eden Charlie's first trip to the Mainland is a sparkling adventure full of mystery and old-fashioned romance that will take Earl Derr Biggers' Honolulu detective from the exciting San Francisco of the 1920's to the purple desert. As in the first Charlie Chan novel, The House Without a Key, Biggers wrote a wonderful mystery and romance in which Charlie was an integral element yet most decidedly not the focus.

Beginning with Behind That Curtain, Charlie would be more at the forefront with the romantic style of Biggers used to frame the mystery rather than the other way around. While they are wonderful, I must confess a special affection for the first two Charlie Chan novels featuring Charlie as the secondary lead. In The Chinese Parrot, it will be a young Bob Eden who works hand in hand with our favorite Hawaiian detective from China, finding adventure and romance in one of Charlie's most perplexing cases. San Francisco's Bob Eden has been a young man about town until his father brokers Sally Jordan's expensive string of pearls and he is sent to meet her former houseboy, Charlie Chan who is bringing them across the ocean on the President Pierce. From the moment he's shadowed at the dock, the young man without a care in the world finds himself in the greatest adventure of his life. He and Charlie will head to the desert to meet the buyer, famous and powerful businessman J.P. Madden. With Charlie posing as a Chinese cook, they decide to stall rather than part with the pearls after the words of a Chinese parrot indicate something terrible may have happened prior to their arrival, despite outward appearances to the contrary.

Charlie is sure of their course when the parrot expires suspiciously, and has Eden hold off the insistent Madden long enough to investigate further. Harboring suspicions that a man has been murdered in this purple desert, the difficulty for Bob and Charlie rests in discovering who the victim was and who did the deed. Just as John Quincy was at the heart of the action in The House Without a Key, so Bob Eden finds adventure and mystery far from home with help from Charlie Chan. Romance is found as well with Paula. She is a location scout for the movies and their romance is breezy and old-fashioned in that way of the 1920's and early 1930's. Biggers always had a fascination with the movies and it is interesting in The Chinese Parrot he has the murder weapon be a pistol given Madden by silent western star William S. Hart. A male secretary who has something on Madden, a gambling house, a dead man's clothes, and a second murder with a tangible body make up a complex and confusing mystery which has Charlie and Bob Eden stumped.

Reporter Will Holley becomes an ally but just when they think they know who was killed at the ranch, and why, their theory is turned upside down and there seems to be no course of action but to hand over the pearls. The exciting twist which follows, augmented by the only trick Charlie was ever to learn from the Japanese, make for a fine and surprising end to all the intrigue and mystery in the desert. The epilog with Charlie advising Bob Eden and young Paula has a romantic aspect readers could always expect from Earl Derr Biggers. It is a blend of romance and mystery perfected by the former Boston theatre critic no modern writer has ever come close to attaining. The Chinese Parrot is a delightful mix of fun for mystery fans. Charlie Chan - MurderMysteries.com Charlie Chan Charlie Chan One of the world's most intriguing detectives, Charlie Chan, was the enigmatic creation of Earl Derr Biggers. Author, Biggers, had traveled to Hawaii and heard tales of a Chinese detective who possessed an extraordinary knack for solving difficult cases. Intrigued, Biggers created Charlie Chan. Chan's first appearance was in Biggers' 1925 book, House Without A Key, which was published in installments in the Saturday Evening Post magazine.

As a valued member of the Honolulu Police Department, Chan seemingly spent little time tracking down murders under the swaying palm trees of Honolulu. In fact, in the many adventure/crime novels that followed, Chan traveled around the globe catching murderers and becoming a noted celebrity within the smart circles he seemed to easily inhabit. Five more books soon followed: The Chinese Parrot (1926), Behind The Curtain (1928), The Black Camel (1929), Charlie Chan Carries On (1930), and Keeper Of The Keys (1932).All of these novels were transformed into film as cinema fans quickly took to Chan's unique style of detection. The exception was Keeper Of The Keys, which was produced as a Broadway play in 1933. Fans of the Chan novels were delighted by the appearance of their favorite detective in movies. House Without A Key was released by Pathe in 1926. The Chinese Parrot was released the same year by Universal, followed by Fox. Behind That Curtain in 1929. The Chan movies drew their biggest audiences from 1931 to the mid 1940's.

Despite having a succession of actors cast in the role of Chan, film fans couldn't seem to get enough of the wise Chinese detective. Fox produced at least one new Chan film each year with Warner Oland appearing in the starring role from 1931 until 1938. Sidney Toler took over as Chan in 1938 and continued making up to 3 Chan movies a year until 1947. Roland Winters continued as Chan in 1947 and made five more pictures for Monogram. Warner Oland, a native of Sweden, was almost as enigmatic a man as the rotund Chinese detective he was destined to play on film. An intellectual giant, Oland was fluent in several languages, and studied art, music and philosophy. He began his career in theater as a set designer but found plenty of work in early films playing villains. His work as a character actor was so believable, that Fox felt he could be convincing as an Oriental in the Chan series. Of course, the idea of casting a non-Asian in the role of Chan is very politically incorrect today, but Oland managed to pull off the job remarkably well.

Despite the success he found as Charlie Chan, Oland struggled with personal issues including alcoholism and a troubled marriage. In 1937, he simply walked off the movie set and sailed to Europe. He succumbed to pneumonia in Sweden the following year. Sidney Toler had been a busy working actor on Broadway and in films when he was asked by Fox to take over the role of Chan when Oland walked out of the series. The studio paired Toler with Chinese actor, Victor Sen Yung (as the #2 son) and soon put Charlie Chan In Honolulu into production. Fans readily accepted Toler as Chan and he continued making films until 1947 when he was stricken with cancer and passed away. Veteran actor, Roland Winters, played Chan in the final heyday of the Chan films. Winters was a successful Broadway actor and made many appearances on radio. He made six Chan films for Monogram Pictures, the last being The Sky Dragon. Of course, fans of the Charlie Chan series enjoy the performances of the many supportive actors whose work added humor to balance the horror of crime. Keye Luke was cast as Charlie's No. 1 son, Lee Chan, in Charlie Chan In Paris in 1935.

A native of China, Keye Luke is perhaps best known for his memorable work on the Kung Fu television series. Victor Sen Yung was cast as Jimmy Chan, the No. 2 son of the detective in Charlie Chan In Hollywood. Yung would go on to gain fame on the 'small screen' when he played "Hop Sing" on the long running TV show, Bonanza. Another fine Asian actor, Benson Fong, appeared in several Chan movies as the No. 3 son, Tommy Chan. It is interesting to note, however, that each of these actors popped up in different Chan films...with different actors playing their father. Continuity was not, obviously, a key factor in the amazing success of these movies. African American actor, Mantan Moreland, was another popular character actor who found fame in the Chan series. Mantan's comic portrayal of Birmingham Brown, Charlie's loyal but timid employee, added comic relief in many of the Chan movies. A master of comic timing and a slow double take, Mantan Moreland, brought smiles to generations of Chan fans. Today, there is some controversy as to the casting of African Americans in roles where they might be used as pawns for misguided segregationist views.

While it is true, and very unfortunate, that few African American actors were cast in serious roles which could showcase the depth of their art and talent, it nonetheless, does not diminish the genuine comic abilities of an actor as talented as Mantan Moreland. Given the time he lived in, he turned out superb performances which opened the doors for minority actors who were to follow him in the decades to come. Investigating The Real Detective Charlie Chan : NPR Investigating The Real Detective Charlie Chan Embed Embed Investigating The Real Detective Charlie Chan Investigating The Real Detective Charlie Chan Embed Embed Heard on Morning Edition American actor Sidney Toler played Detective Charlie Chan in 22 films, including The Jade Mask, released in 1945. He took over the role of the fictional Chinese-American detective from Swedish actor Warner Oland, who played Chan in 15 films. The Kobal Collection/Monogram Pictures hide caption toggle caption Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History By Yunte Huang Action speak louder than French. Door of opportunity swing both ways. Smart fly keep out of gravy. Tongue often hang man quicker than rope.

All gems of fortune-cookie-worthy wisdom spoken by Charlie Chan, the crafty, fictional Chinese detective. In a series of novels and movies, Chan captured American imaginations between the 1920s and the 1950s. But today, he's considered a stereotypical relic from a less racially sensitive time. English professor Yunte Huang hopes to change that with his new book, Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History. Huang was a student in Buffalo, N.Y., when he first stumbled onto Chan's character. "I went to an estate sale, and I found these two Charlie Chan novels," he tells NPR's Linda Wertheimer. "I had never been to an estate sale before because they don't really exist in China." (In China, there is a stigma attached to buying items that belong to a person who has died, Huang explains.) "I was literally terrified to buy these two books," he admits. " But I did anyway, and I took them home — and I was immediately hooked." Article continues after sponsorship Huang subsequently left Buffalo to teach at Harvard, where he researched E.D. Biggers, the author who created the character of Charlie Chan.

Huang was surprised to learn that Chan was based on a real Chinese policeman who "had been neglected in history," he says. Huang set out to give that honorable policeman, Chang Apana, the recognition he deserves. Apana "was a 5-foot-tall Cantonese cop in Honolulu in the early 20th century," Huang explains. Originally, Apana had worked as a paniolo, or Hawaiian cowboy. In 1898 — the same year that the United States officially annexed Hawaii — he joined the police force. "As a police officer, he worked almost the most dangerous beats in Chinatown, carrying a bullwhip in hand," says Huang. "He never used a gun, and he was a master of disguise. One time, he single-handedly arrested 40 people without firing a shot" — apprehending a large group of Chinese gamblers using only his bullwhip. Yunte Huang is an English professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also the author of Transpacific Imaginations and Transpacific Displacement. Miriam Berkley hide caption toggle caption Miriam Berkley Yunte Huang is an English professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He is also the author of Transpacific Imaginations and Transpacific Displacement. Miriam Berkley Though Apana was an adventurous, fearless figure, Biggers took several liberties when he transformed the Hawaiian cowboy into a wise, stereotypical detective. In his films, especially, Chan barely resembles Apana — while his real-life counterpart was small and wiry, the onscreen investigator is portly, formally dressed, and effeminate in his movements. In the well-known Charlie Chan films, the detective wasn't played by actors of Chinese descent — but rather by Swedish actor Warner Oland and American Sidney Toler. It seems an odd casting choice now, but consider the racial climate of the U.S. in the 1920s. Chan made his first appearance in 1925, just one year after the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act was passed — a law Huang describes as "the first kind of legislative, shall we say, racism against foreigners." The act limited immigration for people of Southern-European, Eastern-European and Japanese origin. It did not restrict Chinese immigration, but only because a different law passed in 1882 had already done so.

"At that critical moment when the country had just closed its door to so-called foreigners," Charlie Chan appeared "with all his exoticism [and] aphorisms," Huang says. The complicated reactions Americans had to Chan would be echoed later by Asian-Americans, who had a "love-hate relationship" with the character. Curiously enough, Chinese natives were much less conflicted when they were introduced to Charlie Chan. His movies were big hits across Asia — and in China especially — despite the fact that Chan was being played by a white man. Book Review: Giving 'Charlie Chan' A Second Chance Huang has a theory about why the Chinese embraced the faux-Chinese Chan. "I grew up in China, and I used to watch a lot of Chinese operas," he explains. "And it is a very common thing in Chinese opera to do these kind[s] of ventriloquism, or to have cross-dressing, for instance. So performing 'the other' — that kind of imitation — is always part of ... artistic culture of China." When Chan movies were being shown in the 1930s, "people flocked to the theaters and they loved him — especially with his pseudo fortune-cookie aphorisms," Huang says.

It's hard to know what to make of Chan's odd and unexpected popularity with Chinese audiences — but perhaps its significance is in the eye of the beholder. As Chan himself might have said: Optimist only sees doughnut. Pessimist sees hole. Excerpt: 'Charlie Chan' August 17, 20104:52 PM ET Yunte Huang Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History By Yunte Huang W.W. Norton & Co. List price: $26.95 In the spring of 2002, I was scheduled to give a talk on my new book, Transpacific Displacement, followed by that rite of passage most authors come both to anticipate and to dread, the book signing. Without my knowledge, an amiable secretary in the English Department at Harvard, where I was then teaching, made a flyer for the event at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge. Her concoction was — how shall we say it — an intriguing collage. My name and the book title were highlighted in bold, with a map of the Pacific Rim fading out in the background.

A silhouette of the Swedish actor Warner Oland, playing Charlie Chan, stood atop the sprawling, vast Asian continent and peered menacingly in the direction of North America. The secretary told me that she, a Caucasian woman in her late fifties, had grown up watching Charlie Chan movies. My inveterate -wisecracking — which I was not shy to dispense around the -department — had reminded her of her favorite, aphorism-spouting Chinese detective. Given my affection for her and my own sense of civility, I did not dare question her creative enterprise, informing her that this image of a bellicose Chan would be offensive to most Asian Americans. I did not initiate that conversation because I knew it would take a book's worth of pages to explain the tortured legacy of Charlie Chan in America, even to myself. Instead, I thanked her in my polite Chinese manner for her sprightly design. And now I have written this book about Charlie Chan, in part to carry on my imaginary dialogue with this well-meaning lady. So, who is Charlie Chan? To most Caucasian Americans, he is a funny, beloved, albeit somewhat inscrutable — that last adjective already a bit loaded — character who talks wisely and acts even more wisely.

But to many Asian Americans, he remains a pernicious example of a racist stereotype, a Yellow Uncle Tom, if you will; the type of Chinaman, passive and unsavory, who conveys himself in broken English. In this book, however, I would like to propose a more complicated view. As a ubiquitous cultural icon, whose influence on the twentieth century remains virtually unexamined, Charlie Chan does not yield easily to ideological reduction. "Truth," to quote our honorable detective, "like football — receive many kicks before reaching goal." To write about Charlie Chan is to write about the undulations of the American cultural experience. Like a blackface minstrel, Charlie Chan carries both the stigma of racial parody and the stimulus of creative imitation. It is no coincidence that Stepin Fetchit, the most celebrated black comic actor in the 1930s, and one of the most reviled since the civil rights movement, had also starred in Charlie Chan movies. Fetchit played a lazy, inarticulate, and easily frightened Negro. And so did Mantan Moreland, another popular black comedian, who brought to the Chan movies his extraordinary vaudeville talent.

Charlie Chan's racial ventriloquism in the hands of such white actors as Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and Roland Winters finds strong historical parallels with Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, and Nigger Jim. Before jumping to any ideologically reductive conclusion, we should pause and think: What would American culture be without minstrelsy, jazz, haiku, Zen, karate, the blues, or anime — without, in other words, the incessant transfusion (and co-opting) of diverse cultural traditions and creative energies? A glance at Charlie Chan's fictional biography reveals just how far his nimble steps have taken him into the American psyche. Most Americans don't realize that he is based on a real person: Chang Apana, a legendary Honolulu police officer, whose biography will make up a large part of this book. Like Apana, Charlie Chan came of age in colonial Hawaii, riven by endemic racial tension. As a young man, he worked as a houseboy for a rich white family in Honolulu. As a detective, he traveled extensively in the islands, the American West, Asia, and Europe.

He stood witness to the plights and sufferings of his fellow Chinese as indentured laborers on sugarcane plantations, as gold miners bullied by their white competitors, as railroad builders taking on the most dangerous jobs, and as laundrymen toiling away with steam and starch, supposedly muttering, "No tickee, no washee." Some of these ethnic experiences and stereotypes are so deeply ingrained in American culture that even as late as the 1990s, a Republican senator would use the infamous phrase, "Not a Chinaman's chance," when addressing the loss of manufacturing jobs to China at a congressional hearing. Abercrombie & Fitch would sell T-shirts that read, "Wong Brothers Laundry Service. Two Wongs Can Make It White." In many ways, Charlie Chan is a distillation of the collective experience of Asian Americans, his résumé a history of the Chinese in America. Although Charlie Chan embodies some stereotypical traits, his fictional creator, the early twentieth-century novelist Earl Derr Biggers, succeeded in minting a unique and appealing image. As a Chinaman, Charlie Chan is like a multilayered Chinese box or a Russian doll.

He may have slanted eyes, a chubby and inscrutable face, and a dark goatee, but he prefers Western suits to his native garments and wears a Panama hat in the tropical sun. He is no fan of tea; he prefers to drink sarsaparilla. Moreover, unlike a timid, inarticulate Chinaman, Chan is voluble and enjoys spouting fortune-cookie witticisms that are alternately befuddling and enlightening. This is the strength of his character: his beguiling Oriental charm, his Confucian analects turned into singsong Chinatown blues. When Chan debuted on the silver screen in 1926, anti-Chinese hysteria had already quieted down on the West Coast and in Hawaii. A series of anti-Chinese laws in place since 1882 had effectively limited immigration from China. America was ready for an image of a Chinaman more benign than the chimera of a decade earlier, Dr. Fu Manchu, a Mongol Satan who plotted to take over the West. Chan's Hollywood career took off. The film series had a grand run of more than two decades, and Chan became one of America's most beloved movie characters.

Being the country's first beloved Chinaman is not, however, the only legacy of Charlie Chan. In the decades after World War II, his influence reached into the hard-boiled world of film noir, where characters with Chinese names and Charlie Chan mustaches loom ominously in the dark background. Terms such as Shanghai, Manchurian, and opium den ricochet around like eerie echoes from a stylized underworld. Chinatown becomes synonymous with all that is rotten in the sordid urban space of midcentury America, standing in abject contrast to the clean, white, suburban sprawls of Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best. In the hackneyed symbolism of Chinatown and the clichéd notion of Chinese inscrutability, Charlie Chan has maintained a haunting presence. Given the perpetuation of this insidious brand of Orientalism, it was hardly surprising that Asian American activists and writers, pioneers such as Frank Chin and Jessica Hagedorn, began a campaign in the 1980s to heighten the public's awareness of these negative racial tropes and deeply trenched stereotypes.

Given this climate of silence that had stilled debate or scrutiny for decades, one can hardly blame Hagedorn for pronouncing, "Charlie Chan is dead." Carrying the historical weight of the Asian American experience, Hagedorn's shocking rhetoric was necessary to create a new consciousness, to make all Americans aware of how Charlie Chan had been used in the past to reinforce negative cultural symbols. But, contrary to Hagedorn's dramatic pronouncement, rumors of Chan's death may have been exaggerated. Newly restored versions of the old movies are being released on DVD every year to enthusiastic response, Web sites extol his mystique, and spoofs and sequels are produced constantly. We can no longer explain Chan's longevity by referring simply to the persistence of racism. There is a deeper American story we need to retrieve and properly frame. As a detective, Charlie Chan should take his place in film history alongside sagacious gentlemen like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Hercule Poirot, and Lieutenant Columbo, yet his ethnic identity marks him as different. Charlie Chan is far from the emasculated Chinaman his critics have claimed he is.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of the movies and novels would know that Chan can be as mentally brazen and combative as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. His courage matches that of his real-life original, Chang Apana, who, despite his diminutive height, walked dangerous beats carrying a coiled bullwhip and caught dozens of criminals singlehandedly without firing a shot. But the core strength of Chan's character lies in his pseudo-Confucian, aphoristic wisdom. Unlike the Kung Fu movies, which showcase a Chinese penchant for ass-kicking and sword-brandishing, Chan reveals the Chinaman as a sage: a wise, calm, responsible, and commonsensical man who also happens to be a hilarious wisecracker. These depictions prepared television audiences of the 1970s for Kung Fu, featuring David Carradine as a Shaolin master wandering the American West and fighting for justice in a constant sea of flashbacks. There is even a good deal of Charlie Chan's wit in the torqued physicality of Jackie Chan's slapstick.

For me, a real Chinaman, who didn't grow up in this country but hasn't been shielded from the arrows of American racism, it is fascinating that Charlie Chan is an American original, "made in the U.S.A." Make no mistake: Charlie Chan is an American stereotype of the Chinaman. Anyone who believes that Chan is Chinese would probably also believe that the fortune cookie is a Chinese invention. Charlie Chan is as American as Jack Kerouac, that stalwart of the American hipster who was born French Canadian and spoke the dialect of joual as his first language. Call it the melting pot or the pu pu platter, but Brahmin Boston is where the chop suey of Charlie Chan was first stir-fried by the Harvard-educated Biggers, only to be recast later by wisecracking screenwriters and directors in bronzed and lacquered Hollywood. What Stanley Crouch calls cultural miscegenation as the catalyst of the American experience has found another exemplar in Charlie Chan. Simply put, Charlie Chan's Chinatown beat, like jazz, is a distinctly American brand, not a Chinese import.

My goal in writing this book, then, is to demonstrate that Charlie Chan, America's most identifiable Chinaman, epitomizes both the racist heritage and the creative genius of this nation's culture. To my chagrin, because I am a big fan of the genre, this book is no high-speed detective fiction with gun molls and badinage. The mystery of Charlie Chan is as deep as any "Confucius say." I have had to unravel it by tracing several dry streams to the source of long dormant wells. It wasn't hard to get them roiling again, like an old and faithful geyser in the American psyche that dependably gives insult. The clues I found in these backwaters would not always converge, but I have come to see this as the true nature of American legends: they need something foreign to make them live again. Hollywood has always known this, with such directors as Billy Wilder and Ang Lee producing scalding interpretations of the most American of stories. But I must confess that I am not in the packaging business. The legends that Hollywood perpetuates can never be entirely circumscribed, wrapped up with string.

Instead, in my far-flung research and peripatetic travels, I found not one but four unique stories of Charlie Chan. The first story, of course, is the man himself, beginning with Chang Apana, the bullwhip-toting Cantonese detective in Honolulu. Then there is Earl Biggers's story, unwinding from the cornfields of small-town Ohio to the old-boy parlors of Harvard Yard, followed by Chan's reinvention on the silver screen, a legend annealed in Hollywood and America's racial tensions. And, finally, there is Chan's haunting presence during the era of postmodern politics and ethnic pride in contemporary America. Each of these streams is a story in itself, a slice of bona fide Americana. Together, they form the biography of Charlie Chan, the honorable detective whose labyrinthine matrix we have only now begun to fathom. Excerpted from Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang. Copyright 2010 by Yunte Huang. Excerpted by permission of W.W. Norton & Co.

Earl Derr Biggers EARL DERR BIGGERS: Charlie Chan Is Born Any study of Charlie Chan must begin with author Earl Derr Biggers, who brought the exploits of the great detective to life in 1925. Biggers stated on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his graduation from Harvard University in 1932, "I am quite sure that I never intended to travel the road of the mystery writer. Nor did I deliberately choose to have in the seat at my side, his life forever entangled with mine, a bland and moon-faced Chinese. Yet here I am, and with me Charlie Chan. Thank heaven he is amiable, philosophical--a good companion. For I know now that he and I must travel the rest of the journey together."1 Earl Derr Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio on August 26, 1884. Years later, while attending Harvard University, Biggers showed little passion for the classics, preferring instead writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Richard Harding Davis. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1907, he worked briefly for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and at Bobbs-Merrill publishers.

By 1908, Biggers was hired at the Boston Traveler to write a daily humor column. Soon, however, he became that paper's drama critic. It was at this time that he met Elanor Ladd, who would later become his wife and who would have a marked influence in his writing. Biggers' blunt drama reviews offended many, and when the Boston Traveler was purchased by new owners his days at the publication were numbered, and by 1912, he was fired. This apparent setback afforded Biggers the opportunity to write his first novel, Seven Keys to Baldpate which was published by Bobbs-Merrill in 1913. The book was very well received, resulting in his gaining a national recognition as a writer. The inevitable financial rewards of his success allowed he and Elanor to marry. George M. Cohan bought the dramatic rights to the book and produced a Broadway play that enjoyed a lengthy run. The popularity of Biggers' first novel was to continue through five different film versions spanning thirty years. His next books, Love Insurance (1914) and The Agony Column (1916) continued his success as a novelist.

Love Insurance led to another popular play, See-Saw. It was during this time that Biggers became increasingly involved with stage productions. However, the workload demanded of a successful playwright began to drain the author physically. In need of an escape to a more temperate climate Biggers and Elanor visited Hawaii in 1919 for sun and relaxation. It was while on vacation in Honolulu that the seeds were planted in the mind of Earl Derr Biggers for a new kind of hero. "It all began so innocently," related Biggers. "A little trip to Honolulu, a harmless loitering on the beach at Waikiki. Then, some years later, in the fall of 1924, the decision to write a mystery novel about Hawaii, based on a plot that had occurred to me while I was over there. But my memories of the islands were rather dim; I dropped into a library to brighten them a bit by a perusal of recent Honolulu newspapers.

In an obscure corner of an inside page, I found an item to tne effect that a certain hapless Chinese, being too fond of opium, had been arrested by Sergeants Chang Apana and Lee Fook, of the Honolulu Police."2 So, with that, Sergeant Charlie Chan had arrived; a character that was very unique to American mystery readers in the mid-1920s. The idea of a Chinese detective who would be portrayed in a very positive light was a major departure from the prevailing attitude of the time. Biggers later stated, "I had seen movies depicting and read stories about Chinatown and wicked Chinese villains, and it struck me that a Chinese hero, trustworthy, benevolent, and philosophical, would come nearer to presenting a correct portrayal of the race."3 On January 24, 1925, The Saturday Evening Post carried the first installment of The House Without a Key, a story that was soon published by Bobbs-Merrill as a hard cover novel. In this book, detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department works to solve a murder committed at a beach house in Honolulu.

In this novel, John Quincy Winterslip, a young Bostonian (recalling, no doubt, Biggers' earlier years in that city) provides the romantic interest for the daughter of a prime suspect, as well as investigative assistance to Mr. Chan. The enthusiastic public reception of Charlie Chan led Biggers to move with his wife to Pasadena, California to enjoy the warm climate and to write the next Charlie Chan story, The Chinese Parrot. The eager reception of this novel by the public prompted The Saturday Evening Post to pay Biggers $25,000 for a serialized version of his third Charlie Chan story, Behind That Curtain. The first two stories had been made into silent movies, and in 1929, Fox Film Corporation paid the writer a handsome sum for the rights to the third Chan novel. Biggers became fearful that the immense popularity of the Chinese detective would make it virtually impossible for him to write any other types of stories. In 1929, as Biggers was contemplating a non-Chan novel, the stock market crashed. The uncertainties of the economy dictated that he go with a proven product. The result was The Black Camel, his fourth Charlie Chan story.

After the publication of this book, Biggers returned to Honolulu where he met Chang Apana, presenting him with an autographed copy. In 1930, Bobs-Merrill released Biggers' fifth Chan novel, Charlie Chan Carries On. As they had with Behind That Curtain, Fox bought the rights to this story as well. Unlike the previous movie, this film would prominently feature the Chinese detective, casting Warner Oland in the role. The film, released in 1931, was an immediate success, prompting Fox to purchase the rights to The Black Camel which opened only four months later, continuing the on-screen success of Charlie Chan. The Keeper of the Keys (1932), the sixth Charlie Chan story, would be Biggers' final novel. Oddly, although this story was to make it to the stage, it would not be made into a movie. The play opened on October 18, 1933, closing early the next month.

While the rather short run of this stage version of Biggers' book may have been a reason that Fox did not buy the rights, Biggers did see the studio make Charlie Chan's Chance (1932), which was loosely based on Behind That Curtain. Earl Derr Biggers died of a heart attack on April 5, 1933. Warner Oland, who, interestingly, had never met Biggers, expressed his sincere regret at the passing of the writer who brought Charlie Chan to life. Biggers' six Charlie Chan novels have continued to hold their own amongst mystery lore for several generations, and the exploits Earl Derr Biggers' famous Chinese detective will doubtless continue to grip the imaginations of mystery movie enthusiasts for many years to come. 1 Greorich, Barbara, Harvard Magazine, March-April 2000. 2 Biggers, Earl Derr, Harvard Harvard College Class of 1907 Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, June 1932. 3 Greorich, Harvard Magazine. Charlie Chan - MysteryNet.com Charlie Chan Charlie Chan Discover and discuss the inscrutable Chinese detective, and buy classic Charlie Chan films.

Charlie Chan, created by mystery author Earl Derr Biggers, almost 50 films. Here you’ll find a profile, trivia and a list of videos and movies on DVD featuring Charlie Chan. Did you know… Charlie Chan author Earl Derr Biggers fashioned Charlie after a real-life detective in Honolulu named Chang Apana?

Question: Who wrote The Charlie Chan detective novels?
Answer: Earl Biggers